Wednesday, December 17, 2008

OK, I know this isn't a "healthy" drink but it's what I'm craving with this never-ending cold of mine. My buddy Bowerm says it should be 1/2 cup of rum, but that would put me under the table, or perhaps cause a new drunken podcast. :)

Mix your dry and wet ingredients (except the hot water and rum) into a paste. Pour into a serving vessel one cup of boiling water. Stir in the paste until dissolved. Add your once of rum. Garnish with a curl of lemon peel and a cinnamon stick. Serve when hot.

Saturday, November 29, 2008

I got this recipe from the Kraft What's Cooking magazine holiday '08 edition. My 10 year old son made it, under my supervision, and it was delicious! He loves cooking and is going to be a good cook some day. :)

Add olive oil, a quick spray of cooking spray (to coat) onions, garlic, and thyme to a large pot and sautee until onions are soft.

Add carrots, parsnips and bay leaf, and sautee another 2 to 3 minutes.

In a colander, quickly rinse yellow peas, then add peas, broth, and water to sauteed vegetables.

Stir, and bring to a boil.

Cover and let sit until peas become soft. Add salt and pepper to taste.

(If you have a hand-held puree machine, I like to puree part of the soup while it is still in the pot. I also like to leave part of the soup chunky, so it's half pureed, half chunk. If not, the soup is delicious as it is!)

Tuesday, November 11, 2008

Here are a couple of Hummus Recipes that Rambonie posted on his blog, Iron Newman , today. Hummus is a delicious and healthy snack, and I often eat it as the main protein in my lunch. I dip veggies when I'm trying cut down on the bread products.

*********************************Basic Hummus

Prep Time: 10 minutes

Ingredients:

1 16 oz can of chickpeas or garbanzo beans

1/4 cup liquid from can of chickpeas

3-5 tablespoons lemon juice (depending on taste)

1 1/2 tablespoons tahini

2 cloves garlic, crushed

1/2 teaspoon salt

2 tablespoons olive oil

Preparation:

Drain chickpeas and set aside liquid from can. Combine remaining ingredients in blender or food processor. Add 1/4 cup of liquid from chickpeas. Blend for 3-5 minutes on low until thoroughly mixed and smooth.

Place in serving bowl, and create a shallow well in the center of the hummus.

Add a small amount (1-2 tablespoons) of olive oil in the well. Garnish with parsley (optional).

Serve immediately with fresh, warm or toasted pita bread, or cover and refrigerate.This is very similar to my recipe but I can't eat raw garlic so I often just omit the garlic altogether which I'm sure would make some purists freak out. However, I've was thinking that a roasted garlic hummus might be kind of nice. Anyone have a good recipe?

Also, a note - you can use a little peanut butter if you don't have any tahini in the house (which I often don't).*********************************Rambonie also posted this interesting looking recipe. I'm almost afraid to try it but it does sound kind of good.

Pumpkin Hummus

INGREDIENTS:

1 (16 ounce) can garbanzo beans

1 (15 ounce) can pumpkin puree

juice of one lemon

1/3 cup extra-virgin olive oil

1/2 cup tahini paste

1 cloves garlic, minced

1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon

1/2 teaspoon ground nutmeg

1/2 teaspoon ground allspice

salt to taste

Drain the garbanzo beans, reserving the liquid. Place the beans and 1/2 cup of the reserved liquid into a blender, and puree until a smooth paste forms. Add the pumpkin puree, lemon juice, olive oil, tahini, garlic, cinnamon, nutmeg, and allspice. Cover and puree again until smooth. Use additional cooking liquid as needed to achieve a smooth consistency. Season to taste with salt.

He later told me he thought the Pumpkin Hummus wasn't that great, and thought it was too garlicky. He said he thinks "the next batch will come out better, a little less spicy, a little sweeter and more pumpkinier."

*********************************

I'd love to find a good recipe for 60 Peppercorn Hummus that I buy at the grocery store. Yummy. I've thought about just throwing a bunch of cracked pepper into my home made hummus but I haven't tried it yet.

Thursday, November 6, 2008

Not sure why I'm writing this down. I guess I was just thinking through my current way of eating and looking for ways to improve.I've been trying to get more meat alternatives and more fruit and vegetables into my diet, and cut out as much processed foods as possible. The toughest thing is doing that when I'm tired, or busy. When I plan ahead, and shop properly, it's a lot easier to stay on track. Also, my family enjoys it when I make certain standards during the week and they are not always the best choices for me. We eat a lot of things made with burger so I've trying to replace beef with chicken or turkey for starters. I have also tried to replace regular pasta with whole wheat and often I will skip the wrap or the bread when the boys want to have soft tacos, burgers, or sloppy joes. Things I've noticed.

When I was training, I ate about 55-60% carbs, 20-25% fat, 20-25% protein. Right now, in the off-season, I haven't paid a lot of attention to that balance but I doubt it's that far off.

To maintain my weight, I need to eat about 1400-1500 calories per day. If I eat extra to cover calories lost when working out, I have to be careful or I gain weight.I would be happy if I could eat 1800-2000 calories a day because that's what I FEEL like eating. Anything less than 2000 calories a day feels like deprivation.

Last summer when I was training hard for 8-10 hours a week, I could eat 'normally' (probably about 2000 calories a day) and not gain weight. To lose weight, I need to work out 30-60 minutes a day AND cut down on calories. To maintain my weight, I need to eat carefully and exercise regularly.

I find all of this very challenging but I have maintained a 20+ lb weight loss for over two years now. It's a constant battle.

I TRY NOT TO EAT:- white flour products- processed junk food - chips, crackers, donuts....- more than one cup of coffee a day (1 T creamo, 2 tsp sugar, can't stand it any other way)- food high in fat- food high in nitrates (processed meats, sausage etc)

AFTER A WORKOUT:- I drink chocolate milk and eat a lean turkey and veg sandwich. Depending on how hard the workout is, I will allow myself high-glycemic carbs at this point.

Chop one large chicken breast and brown with garlic powder, salt and pepper, (or diced garlic) in a little olive oil in a medium soup pot. Add chopped carrots, celery, onion, any other vegetable you want to add (mushrooms, peppers, diced tomato, snap peas...). Stir the mixtures to coat well and soften the vegetables. Scrape bits off the bottom. Stir in 1/4c -1/2c brown rice. Add 1 quart of chicken stock and bring to a boil. Simmer for 15-20 minutes, stirring occasionally. If you simmer low, keep a cover on. If you cook higher, do not cover and add a bit more water as needed.

Check seasonings. Add oregano, basil, or thyme if you like.

You could make this with veg broth if you wanted.Make about three 2 C servings.

Rinse wheat berries, place in bowl. Cover with 2" water and soak for 12 hours., DrainStir into a pot of boiling salted water. Reduce to medium-low, cover and simmer stirring occasionally, for 30 minutes.

Stir in barley, cook covered another 20 minutes. Drain and transfer to large bowl.

Monday, October 20, 2008

Here are couple of interesting sounding recipes that Seriouschick from Twitter emailed to me today. I think I'll try them out on the weekend! Thanks Becky! Anyone else have any tried and true recipes to share?

Spray a two-quart baking dish with cooking spray and set aside. Pour the lentils into a deep pot and cover with cold water. Bring the water to a boil, reduce the heat, and add raw chunks of the squash (go ahead and leave the skin on to add nutrients and texture to the dish). Simmer until the squash is soft (about one hour). Remove the pot from the heat, drain, and set aside. With tongs, pull out the chunks of squash and mash them roughly, skins and all, with a fork, ricer, or potato masher.

Preheat the oven to 400°F. In a large bowl, mix the drained cooked lentils and mashed squash with the olive oil and all the spices (including the salt and pepper). Spoon the mixture into the baking dish. At this point, you can cover the dish and refrigerate it for a few hours or even overnight. When you're ready, bake until piping hot, which will be about 20 minutes if you're putting it into the oven right after mixing it or about 30 minutes if it's been refrigerated. Serve warm, garnished with shredded coconut if you like and with a serving of wild greens, such as blanched chard. Serves two as a hearty main dish or four as a side dish.

Preheat the oven to 375F. Wash the potatoes to rid them of any dirt and place on a foil-lined baking pan in the oven (no need to prick them). Bake until they are completely soft, about 45-60 minutes (depending on their size).

While the potatoes are roasting, make the salad. I like to toast the cumin and coriander seeds before using them, but you don't have to. If you do, just heat them in a dry pan, stirring often, until they smell fragrant and toasty. Set aside to cool, then crush them coarsely in a mortar or with the back of a heavy knife (if using whole seeds). Mix together all the salad ingredients in a bowl and leave to marinate in the fridge until the potatoes are done (add a little more olive oil if it seems dry). When they are, remove them from the oven and place on plates. Slice them lengthwise down the center, folding open to reveal the orange flesh inside. Sprinkle with a little salt and pepper. Pile half the feta salad on each potato, and eat!

Notes: I can't get enough of this dish. The contrasts between hot and cold, sweet and salty, crunchy and soft are mind-blowing. It is so simple, so quick, and so delicious. Who decided that this versatile vegetable could only be served slathered in marshmallows?

Spray a large non-stick skillet with Pam, or a little olive oil. Cook ground turkey, breaking up with a spoon. Add onions, garlic, red pepper, and carrots. Cook another 5 minutes, stirring until veggies are tender.

They do take longer to cook but I have found a simple method that works quite well.

Just before I go to bed, I put 1/4 cup of steel cut oats and 1 cup of fully boiling water into a thermos and close the lid. I leave it on the counter overnight. In the morning, I pour the oatmeal into a bowl and give it a quick zap in the microwave oven to warm it up a bit more. I top it with plain yogurt and fruit. I often sprinkle some chopped walnuts or almonds on top as well. No sugar for me but I'm used to not having it sweet. Bananas work well if you have a sweet tooth.

I tend to eat this as a snack, as well as a breakfast. I make it when I've forgotten to put steel cut oats in the thermos overnight. I just mix it up in a bowl and eat. The oatmeal softens up in the yogurt quite quickly and doesn't need to be cooked first (at least not for me. :)

Saturday, October 18, 2008

I found this in my latest Chatelaine magazine (also online). Very tasty, filling, and fairly healthy. Could be made vegetarian if you used beans instead of making the meatballs. Serve with some grated fresh parmesan and a crusty whole grain roll.

1. Pour broth into a large saucepan and set over high heat. Add Italian seasoning and bring to a boil. Measure out uncooked pasta. If using spaghetti or lasagna, for example, simply break into bite-size pieces. When broth boils, stir in pasta. Reduce heat to medium.

2. Immediately crack egg into a large bowl. Sprinkle with basil, salt and Parmesan. Whisk until mixed. Crumble in chicken. Using a fork or your hands, work in until evenly mixed. With wet hands, form mixture into small balls about the size of a cherry and drop right into the soup as each is formed. Stir occasionally. Then add tomatoes and zucchini. Continue to boil gently until pasta and vegetables are tender and meatballs are cooked through. Total cooking time for pasta will be at least 10 min.

(I love Liberty Organic Plain Yogurt for everything. I thicken it a bit by dumping some into a coffee filter set in a strainer. In 30 minutes or less, it's as thick as sour cream, leave it over night and it's almost like cream cheese. It doesn't have a sour yogurt taste to it and I use it in place of sour cream all the time as well as in place of mayo in sandwiches etc. I'll admit I use the full fat version (4g). The low fat isn't quite as tasty but would work just as well, especially in a dressing.)

Heat olive oil in pan and sauté onions, garlic, carrots, celery, and kale until softened. Add stock, sweet potatoes, lentils, barley, and herbs. Cook for an hour or more until veggies and cooked through and barley is softened. Add more water or stock as needed. Add more seasoning if needed.

• Saute chopped onion, garlic, diced celery and carrot in a little olive oil (and/or butter).• Add beans, tomatoes, chicken stock and herbs/spices• Simmer gently for awhile until rice is cooked. Add more stock as necessary.• Serve in a bowl with a big squeeze of lime juice.• You could add cilantro but I don't like it.

I've been trying to figure out how to add recipes and other nutrition information that I have found useful but I wanted it to be easily accessible and not all mixed up with my training talk on my Kelownagirl Blog. I decided to add a separate blog just for recipes and tips and will try to add new information and ideas whenever I come across them. Please feel free to post your own recipes and tips in the comment section!